If you are struggling with nail trims
 

I just wanted to share a tip. We've been having HUGE problems with nails trimming to the point where his nails were quicked at the vet because he was so stressed, aggressive and wiggly. Last week he let me trim a little but it didn't do much for the length as the quick grows too long on his nails.

Yesterday I tried to trim again - no way. Tried a dremel, he was not having it, full on panic with panting and crazy eyes again(( I was at loss. Finally I realised that he'd let me file his nails with a human nail file no problem, but obviously it's not strong enough and would take hours. So I went out a got a piece of coarse sandpaper, cut it to size and glue it to the nail file and guess what!!! for the first time I actually shorten his nails significantly and it took 5-10 mins for all paws. I hope maybe it will help someone. Mike's making me very creative :)

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to give it a try on Gidget. Her nails grow so fast (I sometimes wonder if she's sneaking my calcium pills). I take her to the groomer every 6 weeks but her nails need to be trimmed sooner. :)

Nail trim
 

Thanks for the great idea! My yorkies do not like anyone to mess with their paws. Daisy gets sharp dew claws and will not let me trim them. I hope this sand paper idea works.

I hope it helps! It's harder to get dew claws at a right angle - I made one more sand paper nail file out of the smallest and thinnest file I had ( to have room for movement when doing dew claws ) but it was still quite uncomfortable. After two weeks of constant filing nails and handling his paws, last night I was able to trim dew claws with clippers. But for the rest of his nails I actually prefer nail file since it doesn't leave a sharp edge.

I have used one of those very coarse cardboard type nail files and they work wonders, too. Slow but sure! Worry it makes those tiny toes sore, though, with all the back and forth, repetitive filing so I stopped and went back to the dremel type filing. Bought a Gentle Paws, not very powerful but gets the job done. Takes patience, working the dog up to the filing session, made very positive with treats, lots of smiles, upbeat praise and repetitive, very short sessions once the dog is used to the dremel tool.

Worked up one toenail a day after gentling Tibbe to it by letting him sleep with the Gentle Paws dremel, play with it, etc. for two weeks, then just ran it beside him, treated, praised him x2 weeks. Then touched it to his nail while off, treats, praise for another two weeks, finally turned it on, used it on one nail for 10 seconds, treats, praise, stop for day and a romp outside. Next day, 10 seconds on another nail, treats, praise, romp outside. And so on. Eventually we worked up to 30 - 45 seconds on each nail, 20 toenails, lots of treats, heartfelt praise followed by a good romp outside to work off the pent up energy and nerves. He's fine with Gentle Paws after that slow build up where he was allowed the time and treats and praise, happy times associated with those sessions. Time and patience, treats and happy, heartfelt praise, i.e., good associations, work wonders on Yorkies.

The gentle paws sounds great. Alfie seems to always have had longer nails and the quick is very near the edge , he does let me trim them but sometimes it gets close to the quick.

The Gentle Paws which I first found at Walmart is less powerful than many of the others, more powerful than a very weak one I've got(got it at PetCo I think for $12.95 or something) & Tibbe seems to be able to 'take' it longer than any others I've tried, so we get more done per session. I've tried all of them on my own nails to show him and after a bit, the vibration is a bit disquieting and gets quite warm so you can't blame them if you hold the grinder on the nail for longer than 20 seconds or so. So I keep each nail grind short and go back for seconds after moving on to other nails. All 16 nails takes about 2 minutes total time and I turn it off between feet to give him a break during that time. I remind him during the trimming that a treat is coming up and how smart he is go let me do his toenails, after which come the treats and hugs, praises, runs outside.

But after living with the Gentle Paws as part of his bed, always around his food bowl, his toys, his chewies,beside his own pillow up on the couch, when I finally turned it on, he wasn't especially moved, just looked. After 2 weeks of just running it around him, he was used to its sound. By the time I touched it to a nail, he wasn't panicky or anything and by that time, he was used to nail grinders meaning treats, praises but still didn't especially like but tolerated them okay. By the time we worked up to using the Gentle Paws as a nail grinder, he tolerated it far better than the other two I'd used and we've used one a year now for five years or more. They seem to be the right power and aren't too strong like the Dremel brand I used. It's so powerful you could practically carve wood with it and Tibbe never like it.

Don't know why I can't use regular toenail clippers but I hate those things, want to shudder every time I start to clip down and the 3 Yorkies I've had over the years (can use nail clippers quite well on larger dogs) have always known it, which is why I was so happy when the nail grinders appeared on the scene after I had Tibbe. They have been a godsend with my nail clipper fear.

Thanks for the tip. Went on Gentle Paws web site and their price was $19.95. That would pay for 4 trips to the groomer for nail clipping.

Mi will need to check if I can source this in the UK . Thanks for all the great tips.

No kidding. It's like $7.50 at his vets so skipping that fee every 2 weeks is a biggie, not to mention going up there every blessed 2 weeks is just a hassle and sometimes they are very busy and the wait prolonged. Plus, with the Gentle Paws you can do them every 4 - 5 days or so and it keeps the grind session shorter and the nails nice and short when you finally nudge that cuticle up further by more frequent grinding. It was a savior for me as I just have a small-dog nail trimming THING using the guillotine or scissors type cutters. Leading up to the actual act of the clipping, I can't help it, I'm SO nervous the poor little dog senses that and tenses up, too. So the grinding tool is a true wonder to me!

Just be sure you take your time and be patient in desensitizing your dog to the grinding tool, and later, to the grinding process, using those treats/toy/praise rewards, keeping it fun as possible. Taking it slow, gradually escalating his exposure to the grinding tool and then it running, and then touching his toenail in tiny bits makes him much more accepting of the entire experience. And in that time, you are gaining confidence in that method.

Tibbe's toes are too tiny to reach through the see-through plastic safety-cover holes to the grinder surface so I had to learn to use the grinder without the plastic safety shield. Gulp, it took some slow going to feel my way through with no safety cover with Tibbe but we got there! The see-through safety cover with toenail holes in it is there to fit the dogs nails through to prevent grinding too close or the grinder getting caught in his coat or anything loose near it. Trust me, your dog will see to it that you don't grind too close and even if the grinder does catch on something, it stops grinding. Once it got caught on Tibbe's long coat but he never turned a hair. I almost jumped out of my skin but he acted as if nothing happened. So I got it out of his coat and re-started it. He was undisturbed but after that, I kept his coat pretty short. Or you can put a sweater on them to contain the coat to prevent that.

And you can use a coarse nail file or sand paper but just kinda be sure you don't saw back and forth so much you make the little nailbeds or toes sore, which is a hard feat(pun intended) with those tiny toes some Yorkies have. For those of us too chicken to use toenail clippers, either of these methods is better than those awful toenail clippers or nail scissors!

I get Bon Bon's nails trimmed about every two weeks. He's very squirmy, but the groomer manages. I do a lot of handling of his feet on a regular basis, multiple times each day, but he's still squirmy for a clip. I should try the file, as the nail trim fees are adding up...

I bought something similar to Gentle Paws but he didn't like it as well. The sandpaper nail file works well, he is not a fan but at least doesn't freak out and lets me do the job. However, I've being doing his nails almost to the quick twice per week for 5 weeks now and the quick doesn't recede and he's still clicking((( If anyone has a suggestion, please do share.